Saturday, May 30, 2015

Blur I Broadcast. Blur as Cartoons

Howdy!

The band Blur announced recently that they were going to choose some videos for their live show. Unfortunately, the cut off date for this was only a week ahead.

A lot of the time with my animation projects I am usually drawn to finishing by a force of inspiration (and a bunch of emotional support it seems these days).
In some cases, that inspiration has been there for so very long. Recently there have been two cases of this. Both with my The Sims animations and Blur. While The Sims animations did not really appear to be a tribute to the franchise (and more of an insult) they were. For I would not have finished them without a love for the series. This is the same reason I worked on those Doctor Who shorts.

In Blur's case, I've been listening to their music since I was... I don't know... 10 or something. Since then I've followed everything the members have worked on in and outside of the band. They have such a large collection of tracks that I'll always be able to find a different one to suit my mood.

No one really expected Blur to release a new album, well I didn't. But it is fantastic to have new music in our (Blur fans) hands and great to see the group happy together again.

So I thought, what time would be better than now to make a tribute to their music?

So here it is, take the journey with Alex James in an adventure with Cheese in Space.

I've listed some of the secrets you may find in the backgrounds.

* Under the Westway (2012 track and lyric reference in For Tomorrow)
* Milky/ Milk Carton from Blur's 'Coffee and TV' music video.
* Mr. OK. Mascot for Blur's new album, 'The Magic Whip' and star of the 'Go Out' lyric video.
* 'And the view's so nice' written on the floor. Lyric from Blur's 'For Tomorrow' and based on writing that used to be on the path at Primrose Hill in London.
* Banksy Graffiti with Think Tank (Blur Album) themed tag.
* Blurry writing in background 'Day upon Day' and 'Parklife'. Both Blur tracks.
* Blur Album '13' cover art on the wall.
* Burger artwork from 'Sunday Sunday' track on banner as Mr. OK rises.
* Alex James loves cheese
* 'No Whey' cheese joke sign in the background.
* Tent coloured in 'BLUR BEST OF' cover colours.
* Satellite called 'The FAR OUT' in reference to Alex James' track 'Far Out'.
* Elephant appears next to Damon Albarn in reference to his song, 'Mr. Tembo'. Lyrically it is about a little elephant he met that went to the toilet.

I think that is it!
I hope you enjoyed.

This is also my first proper project (As short as it may be) on the animation software, ToonBoom Animate. For the most part, I enjoyed working with the software. It makes drawing a lot more fun as well as camera work. Though I'm still getting used to colours and the amount of layers it requires. Oh and how it is not specifically designed for doing multiple scenes.

If you are interested you can also check out the animatic of the short RIGHT HERE

Don't forget to search up 'I Broadcast' and check out the other entries!